Trade, defence cooperation and regional strategy had long formed the backbone of India-US ties, but the latest rift shows how quickly those pillars can be shaken by personal grievances and political optics.
The sweeping tariffs proposed across sectors by US President Donald Trump are scheduled to be imposed starting April 2, with most analysts worried about their impact on companies, and in turn the financial markets. Recently, the US administration signaled that it will impose sectoral tariffs on energy, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, agriculture, copper, and lumber.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
'Market momentum and investor interest are at unprecedented levels, making this the opportune moment.'
Tomato prices have been on the boil for more than a month. Data from major cities show that the spike has been between 125 and 150 per cent at the wholesale level. Soaring vegetable prices, including tomatoes, pushed the retail inflation rate to a nine-month high of 5.49 per cent in September, according to government data. Though reports say prices are expected to come down in the next few weeks after supplies improve from Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, how long will the respite last is anybody's guess.
Banks and NBFCs are launching festival offers, including lower loan rates, cashback, EMI schemes and GST-linked benefits to tap rising demand ahead of Diwali
'The biggest point of contention is market access for US agricultural and dairy products.'
'I realised why the farmers and the rural folks are going for Trump. They are so insecure and vulnerable that anybody who is throwing a line of hope to them, they seize it.'
The deal fell through over unresolved disagreements over contentious issues, mainly on agriculture and automotive sector tariffs.
Over 25 crore workers across India are set to strike against new labour codes and privatisation, potentially disrupting banking, postal, and other essential services.
United States President Donald Trump on Sunday warned of new and significantly higher tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing does not withdraw a recent 34 per cent retaliatory tariff hike, threatening to end all ongoing talks with China.
'What the US appears to be doing is to force India to be "the buyer of last resort", on whom their products can be dumped, 1.4 billion people have to eat something, so why not eat American corn?' 'What is exercising the Trump lot is the fact that most of the farms are in solidly Republican Midwestern states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin,' points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
'India's farmers will be unable to compete with the US, given the subsidies that the latter provides its farmers.'
India's shrimp sector was pushed into uncertainty following US President Donald Trump's decision to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all goods imported into the US from India.
'India did not surrender. That was why he wanted to pressurise India by this 25% tariffs.'
From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, Maruti Suzuki India, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Asian Paints were among the laggards. Reliance Industries fell the most by 2.38 per cent to close at Rs 1,171.10 apiece.
The restructuring of tariffs by the US has led to a shift in the list of key product suppliers to the American market, with India emerging as one of the beneficiaries at the expense of China and Canada, an official said on Monday. As per an analysis, India's share in the USA's electronics exports has increased to 7.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent year-on-year in May, while China's share dipped to 11 per cent from 22 per cent during the same period.
India's initial public offering (IPO) market is rewriting the rules of sectoral dominance, with a diverse slate of companies entering the stock market arena.
'Things may get much worse before they get better,' predicts Ajay Chhibber.
Cattle trade has been suspended in several weekly markets in Jalna district, Maharashtra, following allegations of harassment and attacks by cow vigilantes. Traders cite prolonged legal battles and selective targeting as reasons for the boycott.
Truck rentals saw a positive momentum across most key trunk routes due to an increased pre-kharif agricultural activity and a resilient manufacturing sector. The Kolkata-Guwahati-Kolkata corridor witnessed a month-on-month (M-o-M) rise of 2.4 per cent, while the Mumbai-Chennai-Mumbai route grew by 1.9 per cent and the Delhi-Hyderabad-Delhi route saw a 1.6 per cent increase in truck rentals, said June edition of the Shriram Mobility Bulletin.
'The state governments of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu will be encouraged to consider measures of their own as the employment and economy in such export-oriented states will be affected.'
OpenAI on Friday said it will set up its first India office in New Delhi later this year, underlining the swift uptake of its AI tools in a market that is ChatGPT's second-largest after the US and among its fastest-growing. OpenAI said it has officially established an entity in India and has begun hiring a dedicated local team.
'Zubeen Garg had come on his own free will.'
State governments have requested the Centre for export incentives, lifting of import duty in the case of cotton for the textile sector and GST exemptions.
'The Bhashini Mission has delivered a working technology at large scale, which is as good as or better than the one with MNC tech giants.'
The textile and apparel sector is India's second-largest employment provider, after agriculture, and it is now caught in a wave of uncertainty following the Donald Trump administration's tariff policy.
IMD data shows in the 24 hours between September 1 and 2, Haryana received 806 per cent more rainfall than normal, Punjab 759 per cent, Himachal Pradesh 510 per cent, Delhi 740 per cent, Chandigarh a staggering 1,638 per cent, and Rajasthan 193 per cent.
'What India has done will surely embolden more countries to stand up to Trump.'
'If the BJP seriously addresses employment, examination integrity and systemic corruption, they might salvage their position. Otherwise, they are heading toward serious trouble in 2027.'
Domestic automobile retail sales declined 4 per cent year-on-year in July amid drop in demand for passenger vehicles and two-wheelers, dealers' body FADA said on Thursday. Overall registrations dropped to 19,64,213 units last month, as compared to 20,52,759 units in July 2024.
'We should watch -- in the near term -- for signs that the two have totally fallen out at a personal, political level.' 'Trump and Modi know how to be dealmakers, but they also know how to hold a grudge.'
Amid the impending rejig in the goods and services tax (GST) rates, an association representing the country's beverages industry has appealed to the Centre to not classify aerated beverages as sin/demerit good and bring it under the 18 per cent slab while citing their "mass consumption" as a reason.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India will never compromise the interests of its farmers, fishermen and dairy farmers, asserting that he would be ready to pay any price.
Hectic parleys are underway between officials of India and the US in Washington on the proposed interim trade agreement between the two countries, an official said on Wednesday.
The private consortium would invest more than Rs 1,200 crore over the next five years to launch a constellation of 12 state-of-the-art Earth Observation satellites equipped with panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral, and microwave SAR (synthetic aperture radar) sensors.
The average Indian worker must labour for an extraordinary 160 full working days to afford Apple's latest iPhone 17 Pro.
India and the US have concluded the fifth round of talks for the proposed bilateral trade agreement (BTA) in Washington. Both sides are looking at finalising an interim trade deal before August 1. Issues related to agriculture and automobiles figured during the negotiations.
Fundraising by Indian companies through equity and debt reached an all-time high in the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), according to data collated by primedatabase.com. Fundraising through debt stood at Rs 11.1 trillion in FY25, including contributions from InvITs (infrastructure investment trusts) and REITs (real estate investment trusts).
The relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a downturn after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional duties for India's purchase of Russian crude oil.
